Ni'ihau - the Forbidden Isle By James R Shaw

Ni'ihau - the Forbidden Isle By James R Shaw

October 5, 2009

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Ni'ihau is the smallest of the eight inhabited Hawaiian Islands. It measures approximately 69.5 square miles, and is located southwest of Kauai. The small island of Lehua is just 0.7 miles north of Niihau. There is no electricity on Ni'ihau, and no roads, hotels, or restaurants. Today Ni'ihau is a private island.

By 1785, King Kamehameha had unified all of the Hawaiian Islands except for Kauai and Ni'ihau. He tried to conquer the island twice; both attempts failed. Finally, in 1810 he returned with a great fleet, and the native rulers of Ni'ihau surrendered rather than risk another fight.

Ni'ihau is known as the "Forbidden Isle" because it is a private island closed to most tourists. The island has been privately owned since 1864, when it was purchased from King Kamehameha IV by the Robinson family for the price of $10,000 in gold. The family reportedly chose the island over Waikiki and Pearl Harbor, among other choice pieces of real estate. Today, descendants of this original family still own the island.

During the early years of private ownership, the island remained open to visitors and native Hawaiians. The purchase contract required the family to help preserve Hawaiian culture and tradition. Most residents still speak the Hawaiian language today, the only Hawaiian island where this is true. By 1875, the population of Ni'ihau included about 350 native Hawaiians and 20,000 grazing sheep. However, descendants of the original Robinson family closed the island to most visitors, including relatives of the native inhabitants, in 1915.

In 2000, the official census population of Ni'ihau was 160. Today, the only people allowed onto Ni'ihau are the owners, US Navy personnel, government officials, and invited guests. The island is accessible by boat or by helicopter. A small Navy installation is located on the island, although there are no military personnel permanently stationed there.

There are a few supervised tours that are allowed on Ni'ihau, although these are limited. For tourists lucky enough to visit the island on such a tour, Ni'ihau offers diving, hiking, and hunting safaris. Ni'ihau is home to several lakes, giving much of the island a wetland habitat. It is considered a critical habitat for several native Hawaiian species. The endangered Hawaiian monk seal has a population of about 35 on Ni'ihau, with ten to twelve born on the island each year.

Ni'ihau is famous for the "Ni'ihau Incident" during the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941. A Japanese fighter pilot crashed on the island and terrorized its residents for about a week before being captured and killed. Later, the island was seriously considered as the headquarters for the new United Nations. Although this proposal received intense study, it was not chosen.

During the twentieth century, the Robinson family ran Ni'ihau Ranch, which employed most residents of Ni'ihau. The family closed the ranch in 1999, and to date no other large economic activity has taken its place. Today, other economic activities on Nihau include fishing, sheep, charcoal production, and honey. Mullet farming is popular; many ponds and lakes are stocked with baby mullet which are later sold on the islands of Kauai and Oahu.

Nii'hau is known for its shell lei, or lei pupu. The shells wash onto the island's shores all winter. Sales of shells and jewelry made from the shells provide a source of income for many local residents. These leis are known throughout the islands for their beauty. In fact, Hawaii Governor Linda Lingle signed a bill in 2004 to prevent counterfeit Nii'hau shell leis. Some can be worth hundreds or even thousands of dollars because of their rarity and beauty.

The island was also once known for mat weaving using a native plant that used to grow on the edges of Nii'hau's lakes. These mats were known as some of the finest in that area of the world, but Nii'hau's residents stopped weaving them by the end of the nineteenth century. Another unique art developed only on the island of Nii'hau is known as ipu art. A design is carved into the skin of a fresh gourd. Dye is allowed to sit in the gourd for several weeks, changing the color of the uncarved portions of the gourd's skin.

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